New WHS Code of Practice - Managing the risks of biological hazards at work
Biological hazards aren't just a healthcare issue — COVID proved that. Here's where they might already be hiding in your workplace.
Safe Work Australia has released a new Model Code of Practice: Managing the risks of biological hazards at work.
And before you scroll past because you think “biological hazards” means hospitals, laboratories and people in hazmat suits, let’s be honest.
COVID. Hello.
We have had a very real, very recent lesson in how biological hazards can move through workplaces, affect workers, interrupt operations and expose people to risks that are not always visible in the way we traditionally think about safety.
Biological hazards are not just something that happen in healthcare. The Code talks about hazards that come from people, animals, plants and contaminated materials. That includes viruses, bacteria, parasites, some fungi including mould, organic dust, sap, venom and other biological irritants or toxins. Safe Work Australia is very clear that these hazards can be found in all industries and workplaces, both indoor and outdoor.
So the question is not, “Do we work in healthcare?”
The better question is, “Where could biological hazards be showing up in our work?”
The Code goes well beyond illness spreading person to person. It covers hazards like contaminated materials like surfaces, soil, dust, water, air, food and waste. It gives examples like workers handling compost, mulch or sewage, working near cooling towers, or working in water damaged buildings with mould growth. It also calls out organic dusts such as cotton, grain, wood, flour and hay dust, which can become airborne when disturbed.
So this could be relevant if your people are working in damp buildings, cleaning up after floods, handling waste, working outdoors, disturbing soil, working around animals, managing facilities, cutting timber, handling grain, cleaning amenities, dealing with pests, working in childcare, aged care, health, agriculture, forestry, construction, manufacturing or transport.
In other words, this is not niche. This is applicable in A LOT of operations.
The Code covers minimum risk controls. Things like ventilation, air cleaning, hygiene facilities, waste handling, vaccination for vaccine preventable diseases where relevant, PPE, cleaning methods, training, supervision and reviewing whether controls are actually working.
That is the practical bit I want businesses to pay attention to.
Where might this risk be showing up in your workplace?
Is illness spreading through shared vehicles, crib rooms, control rooms, offices or poorly ventilated indoor spaces?
Do people feel pressure to come to work sick because the business is short staffed?
Are workers exposed to mould in water damaged buildings, sheds, amenities or storage areas?
Are people disturbing organic dust through timber work, grain handling, landscaping, agriculture, manufacturing or cleaning?
Are workers handling waste, contaminated materials, animal waste, sewage, stagnant water or flood affected materials?
Are your cleaning methods actually reducing exposure, or are they aerosolising the very thing you are trying to control?
Are your ventilation systems helping, or have they quietly become part of the problem?
This is where the Code is useful. Not as another document to shove into a folder. As a prompt to look at work and find the risk.
Because biological hazards are often easy to underestimate. They do not always look like a spinning blade, an unguarded machine or a person working at height. But they can still cause real harm. Illness, infection, respiratory issues, allergic reactions, irritation, disease and long term health impacts.
And if COVID taught us anything, surely it is that “it is just a bug going around” is not a risk management strategy.
So if your business has not yet looked at the new Code, it is worth putting on your radar.
Ask, where could biological hazards be reasonably foreseeable in our work, and are our controls actually fit for the way the work is done?
Because as always, the document is not the point.
The point is whether the risk is understood and managed in the reality of the workplace.
